Oz News

(I will update this page when there is news to tell. Any news older than a year is dropped at the next update. If you have news to report, please e-mail me.)

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(For more Oz news, check out The Daily Ozmopolitan. For the latest Oz not-quite-news, see the Rumor Control section of this page.)

November 3, 2024: Quincy Jones, 1933-2024

Quincy Jones, the EGOT-winning musician and producer, passed away today at the age of 91. Born in 1933 in Chicago, Jones graduated from Garfield High School in Seattle (where the performing arts center is named for him). He soon started working with jazz bands all over the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. He also worked in the early days of television with such artists as Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley. He worked with Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra on an album, and then broke into the movies when he composed the music for The Pawnbroker. He would go on to work on movies such as In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Italian Job, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Cactus Flower, and both versions of The Color Purple. For television, he composed music for the original Ironside, Sanford and Son, and the original Roots (for which he earned his Emmy Award). Later, as a producer, he oversaw shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and its successor, Bel Air, and MadTV. He won 28 Grammy Awards, the most for any producer and the third most of all time, including Album of the Year in 2023 for Harry's House. He won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 2016 as a producer for The Color Purple, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have given him two of their highest honors, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995 and the Academy Honorary Award in 2024 (which will now be presented posthumously). Other accomplishments have included the Grammy Legend Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, the BET Humanitarian Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Grand Commandeur de Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the government of France.

In comparison to everything else, his contributions to Oz may not have had as much impact, but he was a crucial part of the 1978 film version of The Wiz, where he was musical supervisor and producer. He also contributed new music, including for the songs "Can I Go On?" and "Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)". He also appeared onscreen in an uncredited cameo as the pianist in the Emerald City. It was during The Wiz that Quincy Jones first met with Michael Jackson, and he was so impressed with his work ethic playing the Scarecrow that Jones agreed to produce Jackson's solo album Off the Wall. They would later work together on two more Jackson albums, Thriller and Bad. Jones would also produce and conduct on a song Jackson co-wrote, the 1985 charity anthem "We Are the World".

(Information courtesy The Associated Press and Wikipedia. Photo courtesy The International Wizard of Oz Club's Facebook page.)

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September 30, 2024: Ken Page, 1954-2024

Ken Page, the character actor known for his work on stage and television, and in movies and video games, passed away in his sleep today at his home in St. Louis. He was 70. Soon after graduating college, he started his acting career at the famed Muny outdoor theater of St. Louis. He made his Broadway debut as Ted Ross's understudy as the Cowardly Lion in the original production of The Wiz, a role he then took over after Ross left the show. He went on to play roles in shows such as Guys and Dolls, Ain't Misbehavin' and Cats (as Old Deuteronomy) on Broadway, and playing the Cowardly Lion again in the Madison Square Garden production of The Wizard of Oz. He would later return to the Muny to play both the Cowardly Lion and the Wizard in different productions of The Wizard of Oz. He was also the voice of Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas, a role he reprised in video games, concerts, and other presentations. He won a Theatre World Award in 1976, and a Drama Desk Award in 1978.

(Information courtesy The Oz Wiki and Wikipedia.)

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September 28, 2024: Ryan Bunch Receives 2024 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award; Oz Club Contest Winners

Tonight, the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, the highest honor that the International Wizard of Oz Club bestows, went to Ryan Bunch. Currently President of the Club, he has also served on the Board of Directors and as Vice-President. He has also chaired conventions and written for the Club's journal, The Baum Bugle. His recent book, Oz and the Musical, examines how different dramatic interpretations of Oz on stage demonstrate the evolution of musical theater.

Also tonight, the winners of the Oz Club's annual writing and art contests were announced:

• The Fred Otto Prize for Fiction:
  • First place, "The Fairy King of Oz" by Jesse Jury
  • Second place, "The Final Fate of the Phanfasms" by Aaron Solomon Adelman
• The C. Warren Hollister Prize for Non-Fiction:
  • First place, "Ozma's Enduring Appeal 120 Years Later" by Leighton Suen
  • Second place, "Puzzle Adventures in Oz" by Tyler B. Wright
• The Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for Art:
  • First place, "A Gathering of Ozians" by Rob Lauer
  • Second place, "Glinda" by David Valentin

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July 20, 2024: The 2024 Winkie Award

Tonight, the 2024 edition of the Winkie Award was presented by OzCon International to Cindy Ragni. Cindy has been a long-time supporter of OzCon, presenting on many topics. In recent years, she has also coordinated the dealers' room (all while also running her own space in it). Her contributions were recognized by her fellow OzCon members, who voted that she receive the convention's highest award.

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June 25, 2024: Bill Cobbs 1934-2024

Bill Cobbs, the Emmy Award-winning character actor passed away today at his home in Riverside, California. He was 90. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934, Wilbert Francisco Hobbs was an Air Force radio technician for eight years, then went on to sell office supplies for IBM and cars. In 1970, at the age of 36, he went to New York City to try his hand at acting. Like most in the profession he struggled at first, but eventually he broke into small theatrical productions. He also started getting small roles in films and on television. His films included Air Bud, the Night at the Museum series, The Hudsucker Proxy, and That Thing You Do. On television, he was a regular on I'll Fly Away and Go On, and had guest appearances on such shows as The Drew Carey Show, Jag, Star Trek: Enterprise (where he played the inventor of the transporter), One Tree Hill, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rugrats. He won an Emmy Award in 2020 for Outstanding Limited Performance in a Daytime Program for Dino Dana. But to Oz fans, he will be remembered as Master Tinker in Oz the Great and Powerful.

(information courtesy Wikipedia.)

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June 3, 2024: The Baum Bugle Spring 2024

The first issue of the year of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is now making its way into members' mailboxes. This issue celebrates Oz in the 1950s, a decade not usually known for being terribly Ozzy.

In this issue:

• The front cover assembles some of Dale Ulrey's artwork from her interpretations of The Wizard of Oz, The Tin Woodman of Oz, and Jaglon and the Tiger Fairies.
• The inside front cover reproduces an original piece by Ulrey for Fred Meyer.
• "Letters" sees Oz Club President Ryan Bunch extoll [the upcoming 2024 Oz National Convention] in Charlotte, North Carolina, while Bugle editor-in-chief Sarah K. Crotzer tells about the happy coincidences that brought this issue together.
• News items from "The Bugle Bulletin":
  • Brady Schwind of the Lost Art of Oz project reveals the discovery of five of the original paintings that became color plates in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
  • Another suspect has been charged in the 2005 theft of the Ruby Slippers in Minnesota, and the now-recovered pair will be auctioned off in December.
  • The first teaser trailer for Wicked debuts during the Super Bowl broadcast.
  • The current revival of The Wiz opens on Broadway.
  • A new Wizard of Oz precinct is opening later this year at the Warner Bros. Movie World amusement park in Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Gregory Maguire is writing an eighth book set in his version of Oz, this time a prequel: Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, due to be published in October.
  • A decoupaged lion at the Universal City Public Library in Universal City, Missouri includes pages from several Oz books on its hide.
  • The perpetrator of Oz-themed graffiti in Birmingham, England comes forward.
  • Oz has appeared recently in television shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Masked Singer, and Jeopardy!
  • A claim for the Judy Garland dress found at Catholic University of America has been denied, and the school can put it up for auction.
  • The Dassel History Center in Dassel, Minnesota, honors hometown girl Hildred Olson, a Munchkin in the famous film version of The Wizard of Oz.
  • Recently passed Oz luminaries remembered in "Beyond the Shifting Sands" are actor Hinton Battle, who originated the role of the Scarecrow in The Wiz; Sergey Stefanovich Sukhinov, who wrote a number of books continuing the saga of Russia's counterpart to Oz, Magic Land; and Oz Club member Virginia Fowler.
  • Now available on YouTube:
    • The Will.of.Oz, an homage to The Wizard of Oz performed to the music of the Black Eyed Peas.
    • "Oh, my!" another musical tribute to Oz.
    • "The Bricklayer", a music video by indie rockers Mylo Bybee.
• In "Somewhere Over the Rainbow I Wake Up Screaming", Sarah K. Crotzer discovers an early use of "Over the Rainbow" as a movie leitmotif in one of the earliest examples of film noir, 1941's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wake_Up_Screaming I Wake Up Screaming].
• In "Discovering Dale Ulrey", Jane Albright uncovers the life and career of the artist Reilly and Lee wanted to reillustrate the Oz books, and why she only did it for two of the books.
• Oz games collector and expert Sara K. Crotzer uses "Collectors' Corner" to examine The Wonderful Wizard of Oz game issued by E. E. Fairchild in 1957. (The board is reprinted in color on the inside back cover.)
• In "Oz in the Arts", Anthony Whitaker reviews the current national production of The Wiz during its Chicago stop last winter, before it made it to Broadway.
• "The Bugle Review" features:
  • The Witch of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire, reviewed by Alan Wise.
  • After forty years, the updated and revised second edition of the bibliography Oz in Canada by C. J. Hinke, reviewed by Cynthia Ragni.
  • The graphic novel Tin Man by Justin Madison, reviewed by J. L. Bell.
  • The game Lands of Oz, designed by Charlie Hoopes with art by Zachery Tullsen, reviewed by Sarah K. Crotzer.
• "Adventures in Oz" sees Jane Albright interviewing original Mousketeer Bobby Burgess about his life and career, including his role as the Scarecrow in The Rainbow Road to Oz.
• The back cover reprints a portrait of the Wizard from Dale Ulrey's dust jacket for Reilly and Lee's 1956 edition of The Wizard of Oz.

Also included with this issue:

• An art project that allows you to create your own moving Oz pictures.
• The latest edition of The Oz Gazette, the newspaper of all that's happening in Oz:
  • Ryan Bunch, the new President of the International Wizard of Oz Club, makes his first diplomatic visit to the Emerald City.
  • Editor Katie Jones tells what's going on in this issue.
  • Dorothy presents a brief history of Oz newspapers, on both sides of the Deadly Desert.
  • Two editors meet as Katie Jones interviews Sarah K. Crotzer of The Baum Bugle.
  • "Emerald City Book Report" turns a page on [The Ozmapolitan of Oz].
  • Ozmapolitan of Oz author and artist Dick Martin gets a write-up.
  • The latest excerpt from The Royal Book of Oz (the one in Oz, not the one you can buy in stores here) is about the Tin Woodman himself, Nick Chopper.

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March 18, 2024: Second Suspect Charged in Theft of the Ruby Slippers; Slippers Go On Tour Before Auction

A second suspect has been charged in the 2005 theft of a pair of the Ruby Slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids. Minnesota. Jerry Sal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota was arraigned in federal court in St. Paul, and charged with felony theft of a major artwork and witness tampering, the latter a threat to distribute graphic videos of a woman to prevent her from talking to the FBI. As Saliterman is in a wheelchair and uses an oxygen tank, he was not deemed a flight risk and released on his own recognizance. His attorney intends to file a plea of not guilty. Details about the charges, or Saliterman's connection to Terry John Martin, who pled guilty to stealing the Ruby Slippers late last year, are still unknown at this time.

In related news, Michael Shaw, the owner of the Ruby Slippers at the time of the theft (he had loaned them to the museum) has bought back the Ruby Slippers from his insurance company, and received them in February. He has now turned them over to Heritage Actions, a firm that specializes in selling movie memorabilia and other rare items, for safekeeping and consignment. Heritage plans to put the Slippers on display in an international tour before auctioning them off in December this year.

(Information courtesy Breakingnews.ie and Minnesota Public Radio.)

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March 14, 2024: The Baum Bugle Winter 2023

The latest issue of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is making its way to members' doors now. It's a little late, but since this is technically still the winter of 2023-24, it's catching up again. This issue celebrates Dorothy's third and furriest friend on the Yellow Brick Road, the Cowardly Lion, as The Cowardly Lion of Oz (the novel) turns 100.

In this issue:

• The front cover features Bert Lahr, in full make-up as the Cowardly Lion from The Movie, all dressed up for "If I Were King of the Forest"
• The inside front cover is a 1944 studio portrait of Lahr (no Lion make-up)
• Featured on the contents page is an illustration of the Cowardly Lion by Michael Hague
• In "Letters", Oz Club President Ryan Bunch reflects on the current rise in popularity of Oz, with The Wiz back on Broadway and Dee and Friends in Oz on Netflix, while Bugle editor Sarah K. Crotzer laments how the Cowardly Lion gets overlooked, and she aims to reverse that with this issue.
• News events cited in "The Bugle Bulletin":
  • A November auction of Hollywood memorabilia that included items from the Ray Bolger estate (including scores for "If I Only Had a Brain" and "Over the Rainbow") and a letter by Wizard of Oz lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg
  • Oz on the radio at NPR and BBC Radio 5.
  • The debut of Dee and Friends in Oz on Netflix around the world
  • André de Shields, who originated the title role of The Wiz on Broadway, being honored with a street renamed for him in his hometown of Baltimore
  • Through the Tube! celebrates the Cowardly Lion and Bert Lahr with the following clips:
    • Lahr appears as the Mystery Guest in a 1964 episode of the game show What's My Line? (shouldn't that be What's My Lion?); Lahr enters and signs in at the 15:30 mark
    • A scene from the Discovery Channel in 2000 about the restoration of the Cowardly Lion's costume
    • Bert Lahr sings "Song of the Woodsman", a 1936 song by Oz composers Harburg and Arlen, in a 1958 clip from the show Omnibus
• Blair Frodelius is honored by the International Wizard of Oz Club with its highest award, the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award
• Jane Lahr remembers growing up with her father, Bert, in "The Cowardly Lion and Dad"
• Atticus Gannaway takes a tongue-in-cheek look at this year's centenary book in "Profiles in Cowardice: Revisiting The Cowardly Lion of Oz at 100"
• Ryan Bunch presents the next in the series of pull-out music scores of songs from the Ruth Plumly Thompson play A Day in Oz with "The Cowardly Lion's Lament"
• "Oz Under Scrutiny" looks back at what critics thought of The Cowardly Lion of oz when it was first published
• "Coming and Going" has some short musings and anecdotes from Sara K. Crotzer on The cCowardly Lion of Oz
• Eric Gjovaag reports on the 2023 edition of OzCon International, back in July in California
• "Collector's Corner" sees Sarah K. Crotzer and Peter E. Hanff describing one of the earliest and rarest of all Oz collectibles, The Wogglebug Game of Conundrums from 1905
• Robert B. Luehrs looks at some of the smaller and/or lesser-known felines of the series in "The Supercilious Cats of Oz"
• "Oz in the Arts" sees Dewey Davis-Thompson reviewing Oz: A New Musical by the freeFall Theatre Company of St. Petersburg, Florida, performed in June and July of 2023
• Put under the microscope in "The Bugle Review" this issue are:
  • The First Edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A New Bibliographic Description by Michael O. Riley, reviewed by Paul Bienvenue
  • The Characters of Oz: Essays on Their Adaptation and Transformation, edited by Dina Schiff Massachi and reviewed by Scott Cummings
  • The Japanese game 青い靴とオズの魔術師 (The Blue Slippers and the Wizard of Oz), reviewed by Sarah K. Crotzer
  • Other books noted but not reviewed:
    • Dorothy and Santa in Oz: The Further Adventures of Dorothy Gale by Gene Mederos
    • Farmer Boy of Oz by Josie Ann Tyler
    • Fleischer and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Edward Gross
    • Hairdresser of Oz by Josie Ann Tyler
    • Road to the Wizard: A Topsy-Turvy Tale of Oz by Meg Cannistra (a tie-in with the new Ghostwriter series on AppleTV+)
    • Straw Soul by K. A. Silva
    • Sundays at Sam's by Phyllis Ann Karr, a collection of stories that includes some of her Oz works
    • Zombies of Oz by John Cosper
• The inside front cover reprints the color plate of Notta Bit More dressed as a fish from The Cowardly Lion of Oz
• And the back cover reproduces a painting of the Cowardly Lion by Dick Martin

Other items slipped into this issue include:

• A registration form for the 2024 edition of OzCon International
• An ad for the new edition of the bibliography Oz in Canada by C. J. Hinke, which comes in both hardback and paperback
• This issue's craft is a color-and-cut-out Cowardly Lion marionette
• And in the latest issue of The Oz Gazette, the newsletter for younger (or at least young-ish) Oz fans:
  • The lead story is of the Cowardly Lion leading the coup against the Nome King's reign
  • "A Letter from the Editor" introduces the new editor, Katie Jones! It seems she's no longer Oz Club Member on Special Assignment
  • "Emerald City Book Report" examines a book that's now one hundred years old, The Cowardly Lion of Oz
  • "Why Is the Lion So Cowardly?" and "Prehistory Lesson" looks at some of the issues raised in The Cowardly Lion of Oz
  • Glinda looks bark at what her Great Book of Records recorded happening in 1923
  • And in an extract from The Royal Book of Oz (the book in Oz, not the Oz story from 1921), Prof. H. M. Wogglebug, T. E., presents a profile of the Cowardly Lion

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January 30, 2024: Hinton Battle 1956-2024

Hinton Battle, the actor who first played the Scarecrow in The Wiz on Broadway, passed away today at the age of 67 in Los Angeles after a long illness. Battle was only eighteen years old when he made his Broadway debut in The Wiz in 1974, after having taken over for a sick castmate during previews on the road. That early success gave him many years to play other roles in other shows, including Dancin', Sophisticated Ladies, Dreamgirls, The Tap Dance Kid, Miss Saigon, and Chicago on Broadway, and Ragtime on tour. His movie credits include the film adaptation of Dreamgirls and, on television, Quantum Leap (as the evil observer Thames in the Evil Leaper trilogy), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as the demon Sweet in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling"), Touched By an Angel, the TV movie Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the first pilot for the unproduced American version of the British comedy Red Dwarf as the Cat. Battle also directed and choreographed the Off-Broadway production Evil Dead: The Musical and released an album, Untapped, in 1986. He won Tony Awards for Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid, and Miss Saigon. He also won the NAACP Image Award and Fred Astaire Award for The Tap Dance Kid.

(UPDATE: To honor Battle and his career and influence on Broadway, all forty-one Broadway theaters dimmed their marquee lights on March 12.)

(Information courtesy of USA Today, Wikipedia, the Internet Broadway Database, the Internet Off-Broadway Database, the Internet Movie Database, and the New York Public Library.)

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January 29, 2024: Terry Jon Martin Sentenced for Theft of the Ruby Slippers

Terry Jon Martin, the man who pled guilty to stealing the Ruby Slippers in 2005, has been sentenced. Due to his advanced age and medical condition, he was sentenced to time served and will not go to jail. Martin is currently in hospice care and on oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and is not expected to live more than a few months longer. He was also ordered to pay the Judy Garland Museum $23,500 in restitution, which he will pay in monthly installments of $300.

Not knowing about The Wizard of Oz or the Slippers' cultural significance, career criminal Martin was coerced into stealing the Ruby Slippers as "one last score" because he believed the shoes to be adorned with real rubies. He was disappointed to learn that they were artificial, and gave the slippers to an associate, never to hear from him again. After the FBI recovered the slippers in 2018, Martin quickly became a suspect and charged with the theft last year. Martin pleaded guilty in October 2023.

(Information courtesy WTOP News, Washington, DC.)

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January 29, 2024: The Baum Bugle Autumn 2023

The publication schedule of The Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, may have fallen a little behind, as the Autumn 2023 issue is now making its way to Club members in early 2024. Still, it's coming a lot sooner than many issues have managed over the decades, and as always the wait is worth it, as Editor in Chief Sarah K. Crotzer and her team have put together another exemplary issue.

In this issue:

• The front cover reprints one of W. W. Denslow's color plates form The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to celebrate fifty years of one of the most important works of Oz scholarship, The Annotated Wizard of Oz.
• The inside front cover reprints the cover of sheet music, drawn by W. W. Denslow, from The Land of Nod, a musical that Denslow contributed to in other ways (as we will discover in this issue).
• In "Letters", new Club President Ryan Bunch recalls the thrill of receiving new editions of the Bugle when he was a new, young member of the Club, while editor Sarah K. Crotzer's overview of the issue focuses on her relationship with The Annotated Wizard of Oz.
• News reports highlighted in "The Bugle Bulletin":
  • Terry Martin pleads guilty to stealing the Ruby Slippers in 2005
  • Wicked celebrates twenty years of performances on Broadway (plus updates on the film adaptation)
  • The Wiz goes on tour on its way to Broadway
  • A model of the Gale farmhouse, used during production of the famous film version of The Wizard of Oz, sells for $537,000 at auction
  • Kansas native and University of Kansas alumnus Grady Dick wears a ruby-sequined jacket, inspired by another Kansas native, to the NBA draft, where he went to the Toronto Raptors (whose colors include ruby red)
  • Ozians who recently passed away and remembered in "Beyond the Shifting Sands":
    • Betty Ann Bruno, a child Munchkin in the 1939 movie
    • Piper Laurie, the award-winning actress whose roles included Ethel Gumm, Judy Garland's mother, in the television biopic Rainbow, and Aunt Em in Return to Oz
    • Oz Club members Lary Abramson, Herm Bieber, Susan Higbee, and Rita Reif
  • Treasures found on YouTube highlighted in Through the Tube!
    • A medley of pumpkin-themed songs related to W. W. Denslow, presented by Robert Lamont at the 2023 National Oz Convention
    • More Ozzy music by Lamont, including selections from The Songs of Father Goose
    • Blair Frodelius reads "Denslow's Night Before Christmas"
• Michael Patrick Hearn is interviewed about his Oz journey and how it resulted in his first book in "The Journey to the Annotated Wizard Part One: Origins"
• "Oz Under Scrutiny" reprints some of the early reviews of The Annotated Wizard of Oz
• Robert Lamont looks at what other shows the first Oz illustrator contributed to at the turn of the century in "The Musical Fantasies of W. W. Denslow"
• Ruth Berman, charter member of the Club, examines her work in reprinting old newspaper pieces by Oz contributors in "Dunkiton Press: A Checklist of Pamphlets"
• "Oz in the Arts" reviews:
  • The short film The Tin Woods, reviewed by Sarah K. Crotzer
  • The documentary movie Lynch/Oz, about the connections between The Wizard of Oz and the works of director David Lynch, reviewed by Paul Dana
  • The stage show The Wizard of Oz as presented by the American Contemporary Theater in San Fransisco in June 2023, reviewed by Paul Dana
• In conjunction with The Tin Woods, Sara K. Crotzer interviews co-creator Nick Boxwell
• "The Bugle Review" sees Dee Michel reviewing Queer Oz: L. Frank Baum's Trans Tales by Tison Pugh
• Jane Albright remembers one of the last Munchkins, Betty Ann Bruno, and the rest of her extraordinary life in "Maka Koa Munchkin"
• The inside back cover has some pre-production art by Ann Tseng for The Tin Woods
• The back cover reproduces an advertising poster by W. W. Denslow from 1895

Also included in this issue:

• A 3-D art project of Dorothy sleeping in the poppy field
• The latest issue of The Oz Gazette, the Oz newspaper for younger Oz fans (no matter what their actual age). In this issue:
  • Now that he's finally finagled himself into becoming the King of Oz, the Nome King lifts the ban on magic in Oz
  • "A Letter from the Editor" sees the installation of the newest editor: The Nome King!
  • "A Halloween Bestiary" presents a guide to identifying some of more sinister creatures encountered in the Oz books
  • Katie Jones, Club Member on Assignment looking for Oz creatures in the Great Outside World, finds a dragon in San Francisco—who, it turns out, has also been looking for Katie
  • And Oz's most famous professor has another confounding contest in this issues installment of "What Did the Wogglebug Say?"

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January 3, 2024: Oziana 2023

The 2023 edition of Oziana, the literary journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, is now for sale to the general public, now that premium copies have gone to members of the International Wizard of Oz Club who pledge extra funds for their memberships. Although a publication of the International Wizard of Oz Club, Oziana is available to anyone, whether or not they are a member of the Club, who wishes to buy it.

In this issue:

• "A Portrait of Ozma" by Jane Albright, with illustrations by Anna-Maria Cool, sees a new royal portrait artist come to the Emerald City. But the brushes he picked up on his travels have a surprising effect on the completed paintings. Cool also illustrated the front cover with portraits of Oz characters, tying in with this story.
• "A Rotten Pumpkin" by Suren Oganessian, illustrated by David Bishop, tells the tale of Jack Pumpkinhead trying out a different expression on his latest face, with unpleasant results.
• "Button-Bright and the Professor" by J. L. Bell, illustrated by Marcus Mébès, is about Professor Wogglebug wanting to use Button-Bright as a test subject for his new direction-finding pill, but Button-Bright wants nothing to do with it. But matters chance when a creature stalks them both in the Munchkin forest.
• "Together" by Carter Lappin, with an illustration by David Bishop, is about Dorothy and Ozma both needing some alone time and isolation to get away from it all and think, but they both end up in the same place.
• "Fortune Favors the Wogglebug" by Paul Dana, illustrated by Dennis Anfuso, tells how Professor Wogglebug lamented the passing of L. Frank Baum, and wondering how the children in the great outside world would ever hear stories about Oz again. Then a mysterious message comes in over the telegraph…
• "Glinda and the Glass Cat" by J. L. Bell, with illustrations by Anna-Maria Cool, sees how Glinda deals with Bungle harassing some of her more fragile subjects. Several communities and peoples from the books make new appearances.
• Finally, the back cover illustration, "Oz on Parade" by David Bishop, shows several Oz celebrities heading off somewhere—perhaps to the 2024 issue…

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December 11, 2023: Judge Dismisses Dorothy Dress Ownership Lawsuit

A dress worn by Judy Garland during production of The Wizard of Oz may soon be up for auction now that a federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit by the niece of a priest who once worked at the school where it was found. The Catholic University of America, where the dress was found in 2021, are now the legal owners of the dress. It had been given to Father Gilbert Hartke, chairman of the university's drama department, by actress Mercedes McCambridge, a friend of Garland. When the late Father Hartke's niece, Barbara Hartke, heard about the dress and the plan to auction it off, she sued to take ownership of the dress. In dismissing the suit, Judge Paul Gardephe noted that Barbara Hartke had not established that she was the executor of her uncle's estate or had any other standing in the case. Furthermore, as a Dominican, Father Hartke had taken a vow of poverty and renounced ownership of "temporal goods", and thus had not been the owner of the dress in the first place.

Barbara Hartke has ten days to amend her lawsuit and establish standing. Otherwise, the dress will belong to Catholic University, which can then go through with plans to auction off the dress. The auction has been on hold for over a year while the case worked its way through the system.

(Information courtesy CNBC.)

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Rumor Control

(Because of the many questions I am asked about possible forthcoming Oz projects or other bits of pseudo-news, I have added this section to answer some of these inquiries.)

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The latest Oz projects to be announced in Hollywood: Cheshire Crossing, the graphic novel by Andy Weir and Sarah Anderson, optioned by Amblin Partners (see this report); and an animated musical adaptation of the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, where the story is told from Toto's point of view, to be produced at Warner Bros. (see this source).

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Okay, yes, word has leaked out that Warner Bros. tried to talk Robert Zemeckis into directing a remake of The Wizard of Oz, using the same screenplay as the famous 1939 Judy Garland version. Zemeckis already rejected the idea. This probably puts the idea on the back burner for a while, and based on the extreme negative reaction the idea got, I suspect it will stay there. Rumors of this have surfaced again, but appear to be the result of someone finding the old story and running it again.

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It's getting harder and harder to keep up with all of the currently planned Oz movie and television projects. Bear in mind that at this stage, most of it is speculation and/or not even in pre-production, or possibly even a game of "Telephone". But here are some of the current Oz movies that could be coming to your local theater in the next few years:

• The Road to Oz, a movie biopic about the life of L. Frank Baum and how he created Oz, starring Eddie Redmayne as Frank. (See reports here and here.)
• Dark Oz 3-D, based on the old Caliber comic book.
• A non-musical, faithful adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from New Line and Temple Hill.
• The Oz Wars, which would have the witches fighting for control of the Emerald City while the Wizard leads the resistance.
• John Boorman's animated adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz seems to be on track for release — in France. Once it's released, an English-language release will likely come out soon afterwards. (However, in a recent interview, Boorman admitted that the project has stalled due to lack of funding.)
• Oz: Return to the Emerald City was one of two possible competing projects at Warner Bros. This original sequel may now be shopped around to other studios, or turned into a novel.
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a low-budget independent production from Barnyard Studios and Used Productions. This is very much a shoestring production, which is looking for money and actors. But its Kickstarter campaign to raise the last money it needed was a success, so it may be finished soon.
• Legend of Oz, a modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz from Valley Wind Productions in Ottawa.
• Oz, a new telling of The Wizard of Oz.
• A still unnamed horror movie set in the 1920s with Dorothy meeting Alice in Bedlam Asylum.
• Young Santa., based on L. Frank Baum's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and directed by Sean McNamara.
• How the Wizard Came to Oz, based on two books by Donald Abbott.
• Not entirely Oz, strictly speaking, but the Judy Garland biography Get Happy may be made into a movie, featuring Anne Hathaway as Garland.

And it's not limited to movies any more. In development for television:

• Red Brick Road, a television series continuation of The Wizard of Oz in the style of Game of Thrones. The latest word is that this is being developed for the Lifetime channel.
• Dorothy, an Oz-themed medical drama in development at CBS
• Dorothy Must Die, in which Dorothy has returned to Oz and become a dictator, in development at the CW. This would be based on the book series of the same name.
• Warriors of Oz, a post-apocalyptic version in development at Syfy.
• A Wicked television miniseries, based on the original book (not the stage musical). Salma Hayak was attached to this as a producer. When last heard of, it was under development at ABC.

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No, Peter Jackson is not producing or directing a billion-dollar all-CGI remake of The Wizard of Oz for Warner Bros. How do stories like this get started? Oh, maybe in stories like this...

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In recent years, there have been proposals for other Oz or related projects, none of which now appear that they will get off the ground. Among them:

• Lost in Oz, a series that was to feature Melissa George as a Kansas university student who is whisked to Oz sixty years after the events of The Wizard of Oz (The Movie) and helping to spearhead a rebellion against the new Wicked Witch of the West. Although developed for the WB and a pilot film produced, it was never picked up, nor the pilot shown. (But keep an eye out on auction sites, as a bootleg DVD sometimes shows up…)
• A television miniseries based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked, with Demi Moore in the title role. (There are stories that the people developing this version later pushed their involvement into the musical version now playing on Broadway and elsewhere.)
• The O. Z., a hip-hop flavored re-telling of The Wizard of Oz for Fox. Among the rumored Dorothy's at one point were Brandy, Mya, and the late Aaliyah. Justin Timberlake, John Leuizamo, and Little Richard were mentioned for other parts.
• Surrender Dorothy. Drew Barrymore as Dorothy's great-granddaughter coming to Oz, and battling the Wicked Witch of the West's granddaughter. (Rumors of this recently resurfaced, but were quickly squelched. This project is dead.)
• Somewhere starring Elizabeth Taylor as Dorothy, now a grandmother, returning to Oz. The deaths of both Taylor and developer Rod Steiger means this is unlikely to ever happen.
• Pamela West, where the Wicked Witch is the innocent victim and Dorothy (with Toto as a pit bull) is the evil interloper.
• The Land of Oz (not based on the book of the same name), produced by Hallmark for NBC. This eventually became the basis for the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Tin Man.
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus from Circa Pictures. It's no longer listed on their website.
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus from Hyde Park Entertainment and Toonz Entertainment.
• A Bollywood adaptation of The Wizard of Oz in India.
• A movie version of American McGee's (later cancelled) Oz video game.
• Geoff Ryman's Was.

If progress is made on any of these projects, such as actually going into production or a release date announced, the news will be posted as quickly as possible on this page. But at this stage, any of these going into production is very unlikely. (However, Tin Man was part of this list for some time before its eventual completion and broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.)

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